The Tribe: A New World/Chapters
Detailed summaries of the chapters in The Tribe: A New World. Preface It is Bray and Amber's wedding. Bray's family—including Martin as best man—and friends are all present. He begins to doubt the reality of it all, wondering why dead people are at the wedding. Suddenly Tai-San's voice turns cold and robotic, and Martin turns into the visage of Zoot. While Bray is held by Zoot, Amber stabs him with a syringe and takes his blood by force. A reality space visor is taken off Bray's head, and he is revealed to be located on an operating table in a theatre. Eloise, with the assistance of another girl, removes his blood under the supervision of Judd — a doctor. Judd warns that it is getting dangerous and they end proceedings. Eloise proclaims they have “The blood of Bray. And of Zoot!” As Bray is lead out of the gallery, weak and barely conscious, Eloise sips from the vial of blood — causing the Zootists in the viewing gallery to erupt in chants of Zoot's name. In a private viewing platform, council members have been watching from the shadows. The Guardian is one of them, and he smiles manically. Chapter one The Mall Rats have been at sea for several weeks. Being in close confines have led to frayed nerves, they are low on food and water, and the toilet has been blocked. The issue of where they are going has caused many a fierce argument. Amber takes some time away from the others and ponders over the ocean, and is eventually comforted by Jay. Zak — the owner of the boat — is seasick and taken care of by May. Sammy throws up all over the floor, and a hungry and desperate Trudy eats his vomit. They have a meeting, and the majority decides to keep following Amber's recommendation to keep heading north. Trudy is very emotional, staring emptily into the distance. Amber fears she might have clinical depression. Chapter two Bray thinks of Amber, but has trouble distinguishing between reality and illusion due to the many reality space simulations he has endured, and questions if his memories are real. Some guards bring him breakfast - a bowl of rotten, cold gruel with flies. Bray declines the food, and the guard rubs the food in his face. Eloise enters his cell to propose that he give her one night so he can father her child, so the Zootists will worship her. Bray refuses, and Eloise orders her guards to beat him up. Chapter three On the boat, the last of the food and water supplies have run out – though Jack’s water collection has collected some rain during the night. The stress and anxiety of the dire situation is getting to everybody. Lex attacks Ram when he insults Gel, but is split up by Slade and Jay. Trudy’s situation has worsened – and she suggests they all leap over the side and end it. Amber has mentioned earlier to all of them to especially keep an eye on Trudy, fearing that she might try and harm herself. May and Zak talk while holding hands at the bow. Ebony has tried to make up with Slade – though he wouldn’t accept her apologies, not being able to forgive the things she has said about his brother, and the insensitivity she displayed at his death. What gets to him is the fact that she has selective moral standards, with her past as leader of the Loco tribe. He needs time away, and spends his time with Ruby instead. Ebony is jealous and wants to win back her man. Salene attempts to catch some fish when Darryl arrives, suggesting they should hook up, being the only two singles, but she turns him down. The motors start running, and Ram is at the helm turning the wheel, wanting to go back to the city, but the others stop him. He says they are all going to die, and blames Amber. Amber reflects on the past in the peaceful, starry, moonlit night. Jay arrives, and they discuss why Ram wants to go back to the city, question the meaning of life, talk about their future, and Jay comforts her. Jay proclaims his love for her, and they kiss under the stars. Chapter four Judd has been checking Bray’s body to see if he is up to another reality space interface that Eloise has planned. He shows sympathy for his patients – and confides in him that he doesn’t agree with the human experiments. Bray tells Eloise he will do everything she asks of him, and he is cleaned up and put in a suit before being brought to her quarters. As Eloise begins to undress Bray, he uses the rope from his bounds to tie her hands behind her back. Eloise calls two guards and activates an alarm in the compound. Bray knocks out the guards and runs through the metallic corridors. He runs into Judd, who gives him directions. They fight two guards, and escape through emergency exit fire doors. They run deep into the forest surrounding the compound, with guards with spotlights and guard dogs following them. Chapter five The boat is motionless on the ocean, with no breeze or current pushing it along for days. Jack attempts to make contact with someone through his radio, but without luck. Darryl tries to entertain Lottie, Sammy and Brady with impressions, while May and Zak are half asleep, leaning on each other. Ruby sleeps on Slade’s chest, and he can’t help but feel there might be more than friendship on his mind. Trudy is full of anxiety and worry, and is certain that their death is near. She even considers if it’s her duty to end Brady’s suffering by taking her life. They are without food and water, starving, dehydrated and drained of energy, and everyone is beginning to come to terms with the fact that their deaths might be near. Everyone has replaced the arguments with words of encouragement. Amber worries about the future of baby Bray, and her thoughts turn to Bray because "Dead men tell no tales" and everyone will be taking their secrets to the grave. Ram erupts into manic laughter, and Amber sees the outline of a massive ship on the horizon. Chapter six Bray runs for his life through the thick undergrowth of the forest, hearing a pursuing group of Eloise’s in the distance. He has parted ways with Judd, hoping to have more of a chance of escape. The guards have split up on Eloise’s orders, with Eloise and some of the guards on quad-bikes at speed, another group of security guards with sniffer dogs ahead of Eloise, and Zootist initiates sprawled through the forest. Bray hears the Zootists and sniffer dogs catching up on him. Judd hears quad-bikes behind, and climbs a tall tree. The guards thinks they have found Bray or Judd in a tree, but it’s just Bray’s shirt, tied to a branch, while Bray keeps on running. Eloise finds Judd, and despite his surrender, shoots him. Bray hears the shot and Judd’s agonized screams, but keeps on running. Chapter seven The trawler has approached the cargo ship, and one by one the Mall Rats are jumping from the roof of the wheelhouse, gripping onto the safety railing of the container vessel and being pulled onto the deck. Jack is the last to go, and barely makes it. Slade grabs him, and pulls him up with the assistance of Lex and Jay. The Tribe decides to split into two groups: one to examine the open decks and metal containers, and the other the towering structure at the aft of the ship. While Ram scares the group at the containers, the other group – with Jay and Amber at the lead – has made it to the bridge, fifty feet above the floor. Inside the bridge, they find the rotting, skeletal remains of the adult cargo ship crew. This causes Trudy to scream and pass out, so the other group runs to her aid. Chapter eight The Mall Rats have laid out the deceased crew on deck. They had explored the rest of the accommodation quarters, and discovered a few more bodies inside cabins and the kitchen gallery, but were sure no one else was alive. Amber holds a speech at the funeral of the deceased adults – which she ties in with inspiration for the future. The adults are lowered over the side of the ship and dropped into the ocean below. The Mall Rats settle in their new home, with everybody having their own bed and so much space. May and Zak share a cabin, now being a couple. To their surprise, the ship contains running water and tins of preserved food in the gallery. As everyone gathers for food, Salene, Amber, Lex, Gel and Jay use crowbars to wedge loose the doors to the metal containers. Some containers house medical supplies – with untold amounts of bandages, wound dressings, antiseptics, paracetamol and other pain killers. Lex opens another with at least a thousand cans of food. Jay has prepared food for Amber, Jack and Ram, who examine the controls and instrumentation. All dials and control panel in the bridge are written in Chinese, and a little battle of intelligence between Jack and Ram arises. Chapter nine Amber discovers the journal of Doctor Jane Gideon, written in English – and what it says is mind blowing. She summons everyone to the bridge to read aloud from the journal. Dr. Gideon wrote that she was a Lieutenant, one of the medical personnel on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, part of the United Nations Emergency Task Force, Pacific Fleet. She was deployed to the Chinese merchant vessel, Jzhao Li, which carried invaluable supplies, crucial to the success of the rendezvous. Dr. Gideon examined the crew, and the engineers had shown symptoms of the pandemic sweeping the world, so she recommended they were quarantined, and that the result of their findings be marked classified. A couple of days later, the engineers had passed away - "predictably succumbing to R18SYT. Which is accelerating within its mutation." She would request evacuation for post mortem study back at Base 12. The rest of the crew, including Gideon, were all displaying symptoms. How it was spreading when the engineers had been isolated 180 degrees north, 27 degrees south (referring to the survival grid identified through the global initiative, not a nautical bearing). A couple of days later, over half the bridge crew was dead. The tissue samples she had taken showed a foreign origination. Coupled with the broadcasts from other ships of the Task Force, it proved that the beta serum being tested would not work as originally intended. The requests for evacuation to the isolation sectors of the Task Force were denied, and radio contact was lost. Gideon suspected the governments of the world were truly aware, and hoped history would discover and record "this act of utter sacrifice and betrayal". In what would surely be her final entry, Gideon wrote that she loved her family and hoped that humanity would survive, and whoever was responsible would be held to account. Chapter ten Bray is struggling through the wilderness, having cut himself in a fall the day before, on a jagged rock. Doubt enters his conscience. What’s the point in going on? He thinks of Eloise, and wonders again whether his current predicament is real, or if he is still trapped in a virtual reality simulation. He also thinks of Zoot, and his past as Martin – his quiet, shy, younger brother. He passes by a huge deep crater, while dragging his infected leg. He thinks of Zoot’s funeral, what has happened to Amber and their baby. Bray had met up with KC and Alice in a slave camp prior to being shipped to various locations for labored servitude, and heard tales of the Guardian resurfacing, even that Ryan was still alive and transported somewhere overseas, where he had met up with Paul. From a description by a fellow slave in his own camp, Bray was sure Tai San had been in the same camp previously. He had been moved from camp to camp, and heard rumours about Amber being alive as well as dead, and his baby. He reminisces back to a time when he used to go camping with Martin. Several days later, as he thinks he is near death, he arrives at a barbed wire fence with a military style truck at the other side, and climbs it despite being cut by the wire, seeing a castle in the distance from the top. He feels his life force ebbing away as vulture-like birds peck at his wounds oozing blood. Chapter eleven The Mall Rats have been anxious about their health and the questions posed by the journal since the discovery of it. Amber tries to tell herself she looks fine. Jay has been checking on Jack and Ram’s progress. They managed to get a Sat Nav signal for just a few minutes, but the grid doesn’t make any sense. The co-ordinates show that they are somewhere near the Pacific islands, but the grid readings don’t refer to any by name. Only zones. Ram is freaked out. As Slade is outside jogging, Ebony approaches him with the suggestion that they should leave the death ship. Slade tells her they’re over because of her attitude towards his brother. Ebony thinks it’s because of Ruby, and scratches Slade on the face. Ram and Jack have been arguing while trying to engage the engines and auto-pilot system. Ram spots land through his binoculars, which fills him with an awesome dread. Chapter twelve Bray spent the night in the wreckage of an overturned military vehicle. As the sun rises, he walks towards the castle. He walks on a long runway of tarmac, arrives at the outer perimeters, at buildings which reminisce a military base. He arrives at the castle, realizing it is a damaged amusement park. He discovers two young kids playin on a see-saw, and follows them into a management type building, where he is struck in the head. Chapter thirteen Staring at the land miles away, everyone is enthusiastic. Ram tricks Jack away from the bridge and presses some buttons, which causes the ship to lean on an angle. Amber takes a group to check out the bowels of the ship, only to discover they are taking in water. Ebony takes a lifeboat and escapes on her own, but the lifeboat runs out of fuel. Jack presses some buttons, which gets the propellers to work. The ship speeds towards the island on collision course so they jump into a lifeboat. The lifeboat gets stuck on the way down to the water, but Slade and Zak fix the issue. The Jzhao Li crashes into the reef, tears up and explodes. Chapter fourteen Bray awakes by a splash of cold water to his face, and realizes his hands and legs are tied. Disoriented, he takes in his surroundings before seeing the young boy and girl. He attempts to speak to them, but an older girl named Emma, who is blind, talks to him. He tells her that he had travelled across the wastelands, but she is in disbelief, and is surprised to find that he has no barcode. Bray is left in the darkness. Chapter fifteen The Mall Rats make it ashore to a beach, and look for Slade and Zak. Ruby and Lottie find Slade with a large wound in his side, losing a lot of blood. As the day advance, they make a shelter. Amber and Ruby help tend to Slade's wounds. Jay and Ram are supposed to go search for Zak, but Ram goes to scratch the techno marking from his forehead. Chapter sixteen The engine on Ebony’s lifeboat has run out of fuel and she is drifting out to sea. She had tried to swim back to shore but the current was too strong and she swam back to the lifeboat. Ebony starts to weep for herself, her plight, the cruel and unfair way that her destiny is unfolding. Despite attempts to raise her own spirits, she cries herself to sleep. Hours later, she awakes by a white cruiser approaching her at high speed. She hides underneath a blanket in the lifeboat, and some people jump aboard. Four powerfully built-guys who look as if they belong to the military report back to Commander Blake, and take Ebony aboard their cruiser. There is a girl aboard with hideous, repulsive scars across one side of her face, who captures Ebony in a fishing net. Chapter seventeen The Mall Rats have named their new home Camp Phoenix. Amber tries to encourage everyone and bring some semblance of order to the camp while worrying about Jay, who has gone with Ram to explore the perimeters in the hopes that he will reveal what has troubled him. Darryl works on constructing their shelter, with the help of Lottie and Sammy — and eventually Gel, after Amber yells at her for sunbathing. Ruby watches over Slade as he sleeps, but Amber takes charge of him as Ruby needs some time out. Salene and Ellie assist May in the search for Zak. Trudy lights a fire and attempts to cook tinned meat with improvised skewers and is joined by Ruby. Trudy tries to keep her spirits up, to see the positive of the situation and calls it an adventure. Ruby takes offence at her lack of worry for Slade, so an argument between the two almost breaks out. Darryl arrives and prevents it, after which the shelter collapses. Jay and Ram walk through the jungle, with Ram being eager to go back. Jay continues probing for information about Ram's secrets, but he insists there is nothing to tell and attempts to escape. Jay catches up with him and tackles him to the ground, and they spot a military cargo plane overhead. Salene, Ellie and May walks across the beach picking up supplies while looking for Zak. Salene spots him between two rocks, the colour drained from his skin, his eyes shut and his features bloated. Jack and Lex walk through the jungle and Jack is getting anxious, so they have a break and something to eat to calm Jack's nerves. They find two dead birds which have been plucked of feathers. Lex goes to grab one, and falls into a wide hole hidden by branches in the ground. Chapter eighteen Bray has been kept in the room for several days with his hands and feet bound, and he has been taken good care of. He has managed to get some information out of his captors: The young siblings are named Shannon and Tiffany and have been kind to him on their visits, while their blind older sister Emma is less friendly and more suspicious. They are in the remnants of Arthur’s Air Force Base, a refuelling stations from World War 2 which had seen major building work and activity by United Nations just before the virus killed the adults, with the amusement park added as a way for the personnel and their families to unwind from the work they carried out. The wastelands was a huge burial ground of mass, and was contaminated by something. As Emma arrived to feed Bray, he questions her about their intentions with him, and asks about her past. She tells him: Her mother had died from cancer. A short while later, Emma, her siblings and her father — who was in the military — were evacuated to the base. Emma and other children had been put in bunkers while her father and other servicemen had gone off on high alert. Emma wanted to see what was going on, and there was an explosion which killed all the adults and left Emma blind. The children split into gangs — Emma’s group called themselves the Roaches and there were about thirty of them. They traded with a tribe called the Fallen so they could be left alone, but the Fallen began taking people from them. After Emma told them the wastelands had been used to bury people, they were left alone. All her friends — including her elder brother — died, and there were just the three of them left. Bray offers to help the emotional Emma, but she is suspicious of him, even suggesting she might hand him over to The Fallen if they visit. Chapter nineteen Lex attempts to get himself out of the hole he has fallen into, but has to ask for Jack's help, so Jack goes to look for something Lex can cling to. A twisted tangle of vines is dropped into the hole, and Lex climbs his way up, only to find that he is surrounded by natives, who capture them both. Chapter twenty Amber looks to the night sky and worries about Jay, Ram, Lex and Jack not having returned to camp. May lays by Zak's side as he is unconscious and barely alive, while Ruby keeps a close watch on Slade inside the makeshift shelter. They make a fire after Lottie complained it was too cold, and Darryl was trying to sleep. Amber and Salene try to comfort an anxious Ellie, while Trudy goes to sleep with the little ones. Amber takes over Sammy's night watch shift as he has fallen asleep. Ram and Jay have entered the cargo plane to check the interior, but it is empty. As Ram falls asleep in the seat of the cockpit, Jay thinks back to their shared past: How they met at S.E.E.D — a boot camp and survival program where they taught different subjects crucial to survival after the virus, and how Ram had excelled at programming and his vision for the Technos. When Jay falls asleep, Ram starts to break free from the vines he has previously been tied up with. When Jay awakes, Ram explains that he hasn't escaped because he wants to prove that he can be trusted. He admits that he's been keeping something from them in order to protect them, and says they are all in terrible danger. Category:A New World